<1>2
My student observation was completed at Grafton Bethel Elementary School in Yorktown,
Virginia. Grafton Bethel is the Behavior Support elementary school for York County School Division. The
student I observed was Paul, who is 7 years old, and a first grader at the school. Paul is on the spectrum
for autism but is still in a general education classroom. He does have a behavior support/ special
education para-educator who pulls him out of class twice a day for a group session with other children in
the same grade throughout the school who also are on the spectrum.
I started my observation at 8:55 when the students were just arriving for the day. The morning
starts off with the students coming into class, grabbing breakfast, and then getting out the materials
they need for the day. When Paul walked into the class, he was extremely happy to be in the class. The
first thing he wanted to do was say good morning to his teacher, but he wanted to stay up at her desk
and talk to her about his day instead of grabbing breakfast, and then unpacking like the rest of the
students. He had to be prompted to follow the daily classroom procedures twice before he would leave
the teacher's desk. Paul proceeds to put his bookbag, lunchbox, and jacket in his cubby before sitting
down and eating breakfast with his peers. When the teacher begins to transition to Morning Meeting in
hybrid mode, Paul gets up from his seat and begins to wander around the room. He is given multiple
verbal warnings, and it is not until he is reminded of how he can earn his sticker for his sticker chart that
he returns to his seat. I believe the reasoning behind this was he wanted to obtain attention from his
peers as he made sure to stop and talk to them and make them giggle which in turn disturbed the class
and delayed the start of the meeting. During the meeting Paul rocks continuously in his seat, and his
attention span is limited. He was rummaging through his pencil box, drawing, and even opening a book
during the Morning Meeting. The para-educator in the class sat with him to try and change the
<1>3
behaviors that were happening. “Effectively managing students’ problem behaviors requires
understanding the role of context” (Maag, 2018). That is why the para-educator was placed next to him.
When the teacher began to ty and read a story the attention seeking behavior returned. When trying to
blurt out the teacher reminded Paul to raise his hand, and when he did, he could make his statement he
wanted to share with the class During this time, the rest of the class was listening to the story and eating
their breakfast. Paul was staring off and distracted by other things that he barely ate. When the story
was over, the children were instructed to clean up their mess in their area. Paul began to cry and state,
“no he wanted to eat breakfast." Paul was given a minute to calm down, and then he had to clean up
and transition to the small group/ Seesaw time with the rest of the class. I was also able to note that
Paul fixates on things. This became apparent when he apologized to his teacher for interrupting the
lesson, and she kept teaching. He began to continually state he was sorry until he was acknowledged by
this teacher. He repeated this multiple times during class.
After speaking with the teacher before leaving I learned that Paul has a lot of avoidance issues
and will disrupt class if it means he can avoid starting the lessons for the day. Some days he comes in
and works completely fine. I was also able to learn that his diet, and what he eats, can directly affect his
behavior for the day, and his diet is not as consistent since he is in a split parent household. One parent
follows a strict diet more than the other one does. Depending upon which parent has him, parent has
him it affects his mood because his diet changes. There are many outside circumstances that have a
direct effect on the type of student Paul can be in class.
<1>5
Field Experience Observation ABC Chart
Observer: Shante Ellison
Fictitious names or initials of individuals being observed: Paul.
Date Time Antecedent Behavior Consequence Possible
Function
03/02 8:50 am Paul stands at
the teachers'
desk to talk to
her about his
evening last
night.
Paul did not
want to leave
the teacher’s
desk and get
ready for the
day.
Prompts to
follow classroom
procedures.
Escape
To keep from
having to
unpack
03/02 9:10am Start of
Morning
Meeting
He kept
leaving his seat
to wander
around the
classroom.
Verbal warnings
to sit down, and
reminder of how
he can earn
stickers for
sticker chart.
Attention
seeking from
peers.
03/02
9:30am The teacher
asks everyone
to turn on their
listening ears to
hear the story,
Cat in the Hat.
Paul starts
trying to tell
the class how
he has read
this book, and
he has it at
home.
Reminded to
raise your
hand.
Paul raises his
hand like
instructed, and
then gets to make
his statement.
Attention
seeking
03/02
9:45am The teacher tells
the students that
breakfast is over
and to clean up
their spaces.
Paul decided
that he wants
to start eating
and says “no”
to cleaning up
his area.
Paul is given a
minute to calm
down and then is
instructed to
clean up his area
so that they can
move on.
Avoidance
To keep from
having to start
the transition
to small
reading
groups.
03/02
10:00am The teacher tells
students to open
Seesaw app
until it is their
turn for a small
Paul starts to
do jumping
jacks standing
in place.
Paul must sit
with his head
down for two
mins.
Attention
seeking
<1>6
group.
03/02
10:45 The teacher
ignores Paul,
saying sorry for
interrupting and
continues the
lesson.
Paul continues
to say he is
sorry while
gradually
getting louder.
The teacher
acknowledges
Paul and reminds
him that he
cannot earn a
sticker if he
keeps talking
when she is
trying to teach.
Obtain
forgiveness.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
